We had an extraordinarily good line-up in my bi-weekly brown-bag group last Thursday. The usual brown-bag group rules apply: Everyone brings a wine in a bag; we decant; we drink the wines one by one, and no one has any idea what we’re tasting until we unveil. (We unveil each as we go along.) The only real structure: Dry whites first (violated in this case), then reds (each member decides when to serve his), and then sweet wines.
I’ve asterisked the wines I brought. I could not embarrass myself by misidentifying those.
1992 Huet – Le Haut-Lieu – Demi-Sec. Ok, so it wasn’t dry, but it fits perfectly at the outset. Slight madeirized note on the nose, with some botrytis. In the mouth, I guessed maybe an Alsatian vendage tardive. Lots of botrytis. A tart and very concentrated finish. What a way to start the evening! Outstanding. 93-ish for me. WOTF for me, but it wasn’t exactly a downhill slide from there.
1970 Ch. Duhard-Milon - Paulliac. Smells like old Bordeaux, with some cedar/lead pencil. Then some brett comes up, and a slight green vege note like you get in a Loire, which shifts my guess to the Loire. In the mouth this is fairly tart, but the fruit is ripe. In fact, it’s an odd balance of obviously ripe fruit with that tart backbone – ripe but attentuated/fading fruit. The tannins have largely resolved. A little tart on the finish. A nice wine, but a few years past its prime for my tastes. Still, the freshness of the fruit flavors was remarkable – a sign of that wonderful harvest, I suppose. 88-ish. As always, my first gut guess is usually the best.
2002 Rapet – Pernand-Vergelles – Iles de Vergelles. On the nose, I thought maybe nebbiolo. (So much for first gut guesses.) Nice balance in the mouth, with good fruit and a backbone of acidity. Clearly some age, but I’d say it’s in young adulthood. No clear terroir or grape signature. A tart finish with a bit of grapefruit. I gave it 92, but was surprised when it was unveiled to find that it was a Burgundy. Pernand can be rustic, but this just didn’t have any pinot character. Perhaps it needs time. I don’t really know Rapet’s wines. Still, a nice tipple.
2011 Alain Verset – Cornas. A nephew of the great Noel Verset, as I recall. I liked his 2010. There was something a bit off on the nose at first here, though. I thought perhaps I got low-level TCA at first, but decided I was wrong. Then I got something like insect spray, which one or two other people concurred in. But that blew off and some sour cherries came up, and camphor. Interesting and complex once the noxious thing blew off. In the mouth, many layers, with more sour cherries and a lot of acid. Quite elegant as it had more air. 92 for me. And a good value. I think this probably just suffered from too short a decant.
2012 Woodlands – “Margaret” – Margaret River, Wilyabrup Valley (74% cab; 26% merlot). Chocolate! Pow! Right in your face. Love it! A touch of alcohol, too, at first on the nose, but that doesn’t mar the balance of this wine. “Glorious young cabernet,” I wrote. “Beautifully balanced… with great depth.” Clearly New World, but right on the mark. 92. Wish we saw more Aussie wines like this here. Wine-Searcher doesn’t show this bottling in the US. It looks like it’s about US$35 in Australia, but some of their wines go for $100+ in the US. The WS listings are a bit confusing. Anyone know more about these wines?
*2007 Olga Raffault – Chinon – Les Piscasses. Warm vintage + Loire = something nice. A touch of saddle/brett on the nose and a hint of cab franc green veges (which I like). Lovely balance here. Ample ripe fruit but also acid to keep it fresh. Moderate tannins, so the whole package is elegant. A tad thin at the end, I thought, but still yummy. Purchased recently for $24 (!!). Wish they had more.
*1988 Brezza – Barolo – Castellano. Purchased recently at Chambers Street. Decanted four or five hours ahead. Good mature nebbiolo brick color. A trace of oxidation on the nose when first in the glass, but that wasn’t there when I decanted and it mostly blows off. Iodine notes on the nose, and piercing nebbiolo scents (rose hips, dried strawberries). Rich and full bodied in the mouth, with soft tannins. Mature but very sound – lots of great fruit in the mouth, following through to the finish. 90 points for me.
My limited experience with 1988 makes me think the vintage is underrated, though a bottle of ’88 Barale Castellano from Chambers’ inventory that was being poured at the store yesterday was tired – brown hue, going to coffee and coffee beans, without much fruit or nebbiolo character. This bottle of Brezza was far superior to that bottle of Barale.
1983 Max. Grunhauser – Abtsberg – Auslese 190. From the un-termperature controlled apartment closet of a member, who purchased it around the time of release. Tangerine on the nose and in the mouth. Delicate nose, thinning, delicate fruit on the palate. Fading gracefully but with great character. Long, strong, rich finish. This is the latest in a string of old treasures from the same closet that I’ve posted on. No doubt a better stored bottle would have been more intense and vibrant, but this was still a pleasure. 89-ish.
*1998 Baumard – Quarts de Chaume. Concentrated fruit and bees wax nose. Citrus notes in the mouth. Rich, oily, fresh and not fully mature. Some people guessed Semillon, which made sense with the texture, but there was no banana oil. Very clean and very, very good. 92.
2003 Petaluma – Botrytis Semillon Essence – Sharefarmers Vineyard. Rich, slight prune scent. Great balance, but not super complex. Very sweet but with offsetting acid at the back and some chocolate notes following up the rear. Structuringly excellent but a little two-dimensional for my tastes. 89-ish.
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